December 04, 2011

AP Whitewashes Saudi Warnings About Gays, Virgins?

A Saudi report warns that woman drivers, like the one pictured here violating the ban on female drivers in June 2011, risks her virginity and sexual orientation (photo by AP)

The Daily Mailreports that a Saudi religious council published a "scientific" report with a prominent academic that the repeal of a ban on women drivers would lead to "no more virgins" in the kingdom and would boost homosexuality and pornography among men and women. According to the Daily Mail:

The startling conclusions were drawn by Muslim scholars at the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, working in conjunction with Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University. . . .

The report warns that allowing women to drive would "provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce."

Within ten years of the ban being lifted, the report’s authors claim, there would be "no more virgins" in the Islamic kingdom.

If the Daily Mail is accurately portraying the Saudi report, then the AP's coverage is nothing short of a complete whitewash. Ignoring the warnings about homosexuality, pornography and "no more virgins," the AP says only:

A report given to a high-level advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activist said Saturday. (Emphasis added.)

The AP, unlike the Daily Mail, fails to note that the report was co-authored by Muslim scholars at the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council. The syndicated news service attributed the "study" only to "a well-known academic."